Our world is becoming increasingly urbanised. In 1950, just 30% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. This number is now over 50% and rising. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population are…

In an era flush with vaccines and antibiotics, when the greatest health risks in the developed world ride on the back of fried fish and hamburgers, it is easy to forget that infectious diseases still account…

Bats are the natural host species for Ebola and a variety of viruses, many of which can be fatal when transmitted to humans. More than 100 viruses have been identified in bats and this number is rising…

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried by ticks.
Mike K/FlickrAugust 20, 2014

A government investigation into whether Lyme disease exists in Australia and how to treat it has ended without being able to resolve the issues. But there is a plausible explanation for why people here…

Pictures of masked and gowned healthcare workers have become recurrent images as the Ebola virus continues to spread in West Africa. It is the largest Ebola virus outbreak ever recorded, and the death…

Dogs are the source of the majority of human rabies deaths around the world.
M. Lehmkuhler/FlickrJuly 2, 2014

The island of Bali has pledged to be free of the rabies by 2020 and has begun culling stray dogs in an effort to control the virus. Rabies was first detected in Bali in November 2008 and has since claimed…

Poisoning by E. coli is too familiar. As far as food-poisonings go, it’s one of the most serious and is frequently fatal in children and the elderly. Infection can also lead to lifelong kidney damage and…

What do the pilot badger culls due to start this weekend in Gloucester and West Somerset hope to achieve? The official line is a 16% reduction of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle herds over the next…

Heavy-handed strategies won’t reduce the risk of bat-borne diseases and will be detrimental to the environment.
Flickr/mdavidfordApril 29, 2013

The recent tragic death of a young boy from Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL) produced a predictable chorus of calls to disperse flying fox colonies and kill flying foxes, all in the name of public health…

Pandemics produce an extraordinary outpouring of emotion which is out of proportion to the number of actual cases and deaths.
EPA/Wu HongApril 26, 2013

It’s ten years since SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) upset our complacency about infectious diseases and now we are faced by another “new” disease. H7N9 bird flu is currently spreading through…

The global focus on emerging infectious disease has turned to bats since they were identified as the probable source of SARS.
Toby MannFebruary 26, 2013

The last 30 years have seen a rise in emerging infectious diseases in humans, of which more than 70% are zoonotic. Zoonoses are diseases that normally exist in animals but have the potential to transmit…